Australian Immigration Daily News

The NARWP aims to ensure that migrants make provision to support themselves and their families when they first settle in Australia.

The Social Services Legislation Amendment (Encouraging Self-Sufficiency for Newly Arrived Migrants) Bill 2018 (bill) seeks to increase the existing newly arrived resident's waiting period (NARWP) from 104 weeks to 156 weeks (two years to three years) for various social security payments, concession cards and farm household support allowances. 

In addition, the bill seeks to introduce a NARWP of 156 weeks for family tax benefit, paid parental leave, dad and partner pay, parenting payment, carer allowance, bereavement allowance and widow allowance. 

In a Third Reading yesterday:

Senator REYNOLDS (Western Australia—Assistant Minister for Home Affairs) (09:50):

I move: That this bill be now read a third time. Question agreed to.

The Migration Amendment (Streamlining Visa Processing) Bill 2018 (the Bill) amends the Migration Act 1958 (the Act) to enable the Minister to specify groups of visa applicants who are required to provide one or more personal identifiers to make a valid application.

A biometric (termed ‘personal identifier’ in the Act), is a unique identifier that is based on individual physical characteristics, such as a facial image or a set of fingerprints, which can be digitised into a biometric template for automated storage and checking. Once ‘anchored‘ to a person’s biographic information, such as name, nationality and date of birth, a biometric adds significantly to verifying that a person is who they claim to be, and to linking an individual to security, law enforcement, and immigration information.

The Department’s biometric program has been progressively introduced over time. It commenced in 2006 with collecting facial images and fingerprints of illegal foreign fishers, and was extended in 2010, when the Department commenced collecting facial images and fingerprints from offshore visa applicants in specified higher risk locations and onshore protection claimants.

Source:

Migration-Amendment-Streamlining-Visa-Processing-Bill-2018.pdf

A Bill for an Act to provide for a plebiscite at the next general election in relation to migration to Australia, and for related purposes was put to the Senate by Senator Fraser Anning yesterday.  Crossbencher Fraser Anning has been widely condemned for speech praising white Australia policy and pushing for plebiscite a on Muslim immigration, which he calls the 'final solution'.

This is what was said:

Senator ANNING (Queensland) (17:08): I move:

The recent decision in the case of Brown V Minister for Home Affairs being  an appeal from a decision at the FCC is of interest to the profession.

The relevant citation for the Appeal decision is Brown V Minister for Home Affairs [2018] FCA 1643.

The hyperlink to the reported decision is here: ( http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/cth/FCA/2018/1643.html?context=1;query=Brown%20V%20Minister%20for%20Home%20Affairs%20;mask_path= )